A close confidante of Tsvangirai told Xinhua that things were not looking good for the party. The prime minister's statement did not gain support from African observers who make up the bulk of estimated 1,500 foreign observers to the July 31 elections.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who led the African Union (AU) Election Observer mission, said Zimbabwe had held a successful election.

"Yes, there were incidences, little incidences here and there, but they are not incidences that would flaw the election to the point of not reflecting the will of the people of this country," reports quoted Obasanjo as saying after he bid farewell to Mugabe.

Earlier in the day, Namibian Electoral Commission Chair Notemba Tjipueja, who led a 25-man SADC Electoral Commission Forum observers' team, also endorsed the election.

She outlined the various processes that the electoral body had gone through, including voter education, encouragement of former aliens to get new identification and the conduct of peaceful elections.

"As a result of these processes, the elections were credible," she said.

The observers' mission of SADC, the regional body that brokered Zimbabwe's coalition government in 2009, is expected to give its verdict on the polls by Friday noon.

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